


A Drop of Sunshine

by squeakymarshmallow



Category: Rapunzel (Fairy Tale), Tangled (2010), 僕のヒーローアカデミア | Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Rapunzel Fusion, Alternate Universe - Tangled (2010) Fusion, Dabi is a Todoroki, Fantasy, M/M, Rapunzel Elements, Tangled (2010) References, Tangled AU, deku is rapunzel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-18
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2019-11-23 23:56:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 7,819
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18158738
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/squeakymarshmallow/pseuds/squeakymarshmallow
Summary: "Something brought you here, Shouto. Call it what you will, fate, destiny-""-An asshole.""But I have made the decision to trust you""A horrible decision really."A Tododeku Tangled AU where Izuku is the lost prince, Shouto is a thief (Who's also a runaway prince), All Might and Inko are the king and queen, and overall it's just very gay.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So this came to fruition in a Tododeku fanfic discord I'm in and I couldn't not write it. Hope you enjoy!!

A long time ago, in a land far from here, a drop of sunlight fell from the sky, and to the ground. Not long after, a flower grew in that same spot, beautiful and bright green. Most people passed the flower by, not giving it a second glance. But one man didn’t pass the flower by. He would stop, kneeling down to the flower. For the flower held a magical power, for anyone who knew the right song.

Lend me your power  
Lend me your aid  
Lend me your secrets  
Don’t let them fade  
Fix what is broken  
Find what is lost  
Heal what is hurting  
No matter the cost

The magic would take effect, the flower began to glow a brilliant bright green. And as the light shone on the man, years melted off of his face, as he became younger and younger. The man, All for One, used the flower to keep himself young for thousands of years, determined to keep his youth forever, while keeping the flower a secret from everyone else. He didn’t want to share its power with anyone. Though, of course, he couldn’t erase the flower’s existence completely. Rumors began to spread among the people, of the bright green flower that could heal any ailment. Many would search, but none could find the plant.

Many years went by, and eventually, a kingdom was built nearby. It was a lovely kingdom, ruled by the firm but kind King Toshinori, with his lovely wife Queen Inko by his side. Their rule quite the opposite of King Enji who ruled the Endeavor Kingdom to the east. For many years, there was peace, and the kingdom prospered without many problems. Until the queen, heavy with child, suddenly came down with an illness that nobody could explain. The king brought in healers from all across the land, tried every medicine, every cure that he could think of. But nothing worked. He was starting to give up hope, until he heard one of his servants whispering about a rumor, a magical flower that would cure anything. 

Feeling desperate, the king ordered a search party, guards searched for a magical flower, wherever it may be, if it even existed. Meanwhile, All for One heard of this plan, and was determined to keep his miracle a secret. He began to hide the flower, keeping it from prying eyes. He was careful, but not careful enough, and it only took one sloppy hiding for the secret to be out. The guards found the flower, and took it from it’s spot, back to the kingdom for the queen.

The flower was cooked into a healing soup, which the queen drank. The rumors proved true, and she was cured of the mysterious illness, feeling better than ever before. Not long after, she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, a prince, with hair as bright and green as the leaves of the trees. In celebration, the king and queen released a lantern into the sky, to symbolize their son, the new heir’s first day of life. Everything was perfect.

Until it wasn’t.

All For One had heard of the birth of the new heir, and he had a theory. Determined to get his eternal youth back, he snuck into the castle, in the dead of night. Sneaking into nursery, where the child was sleeping peacefully, he smiled. The child’s bright green hair only made him more sure of what he had hoped. Quietly, he began to sing his special song, praying it would work. Magically, the child’s bushy green hair began to illuminate as he did, much like the flower that had saved his mother’s life. Smiling even more, All For One reached out a pair of scissors, and with careful precision, snipped a curl from the sleeping heir’s head, hoping to take a bit of the magic back with him. But as soon as the scissors had chopped through the glowing hair, it became a dark forest green, all the power gone from hacked strands. The magic dissipated, and as All for One began to age again, the child awoke, and began to cry. In a split second decision, All for One grabbed the child and left through the window, never to be seen again.

The kingdom searched everywhere they could for their lost prince. He was never found. The subjects of the kingdom began to give up hope,but the king and queen never did. Every year, on the prince’s birthday, the kingdom released thousands of lanterns into the night sky, in the hopes that their lost prince would see them. They hoped, that deep down, wherever he was, that the prince, their son, would come back home. 

And somewhere, hidden deep in the woods, a small boy with long green hair looked out of his window and wondered what the glowing lights that only appeared on his birthday were, what they could possibly mean, and why his Papa wouldn’t let him go and see them.


	2. When Will His Life Begin?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> First look at grown Izuku! I kinda rushed this chapter at the end, sorry! The next chapter will be introducing Shouto, and be from Shouto's perspective, so look forward to that!

Izuku knew this tower pretty well. Well, that wasn’t entirely accurate. He knew the top floor of the tower really well. He had never seen the lower levels of the tower. And he had never been outside of the tower. So he really knew the top floor of the tower well. He could get around blindfolded at this point (in fact, he had tested that theory once, and it proved true). 

Papa said that the outside world was dangerous. Men with pointy teeth, cannibals, people who wanted to take his power, and use it for themselves. He fidgeted with his one short dark curl nervously. Papa was only trying to keep him safe, he knew. Papa braved the outside world to get them food, to get him paint and other things to keep him occupied while cooped up in this tower. He trusted Papa, he listened to Papa. Except…

Every year, something strange would happen. He first noticed when he was 3. It was his birthday, and after singing to Papa, Papa had fallen asleep, leaving Izuku to his own devices. He had painted for a bit, until he decided to watch the stars. It was something that he often did. He loved the stars, so beautiful and gleaming in the night sky, they were the world’s freckles dotting the horizon, much like the freckles that covered his own skin. He felt connected to the sky, somehow. He always loved to look at it. But this night, something amazing happened.

At first it was one. A single glowing light, rising up from the trees. His eyes lit up, following the mysterious rising star. And then, as soon as there had been one, there was another, and another and another, until the night sky was filled with the glowing lights. Larger and brighter than any star he had seen before, he was captivated. He couldn’t take his eyes off of the beautiful lights, and he watched them all night. Papa had found him the next morning asleep on the window sill, still muttering about the lights.

The next night, he had eagerly awaited Papa to go to bed. As soon as he was asleep, Izuku had rushed to the window, waiting eagerly for the new stars to appear again. But that night, no matter how long he waited, no new stars appeared. Only when the sun began to rise, tinting the sky with pinks and oranges, did he leave the window and go back to bed. He wondered if he had dreamt the whole thing, but he didn’t give up hope. Every night he waited, but the lights didn’t show up. That is, until his fourth birthday, when out of the blue, the lights appeared again. Izuku nearly cried, his lights were back, and they were real. It was the best birthday present ever.

He began to notice a pattern. The lights weren’t stars, he ruled that out pretty quickly. The stars appeared every night, and even if they changed positions slightly, they were always there. The lights only appeared once a year. On his birthday. Every year, it was the present he looked forward to the most. Papa would go to bed, and he would stay up all night, watching the lights rise up from the trees and into the sky. It was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. 

As the years went on, Izuku couldn’t help but think that he had something to do with the lights. It was silly, he knew, but something in his gut nagged at him that the lights were important for him, somehow. They always appeared on his birthday, and only on his birthday. Logically, this was probably just a coincidence, but Izuku could never seem to follow logic when it came to the lights. 

This morning started like any other. Izuku awoke, and Papa had already gone. Izuku had gotten used to it at this point. Papa usually left him on his own in the mornings. Izuku couldn’t be mad at him, he was facing the harsh dangerous outside in order to bring them the things they needed. Well, Izuku wasn’t sure if it was as harsh and dangerous for Papa as it would be for him, Izuku was the one with magical healing abilities after all. But he still was glad that Papa was the one being brave and getting them the things they needed. Mostly glad, anyway.

Starting his usual morning routine was, well, routine. He changed from his nightgown into the brown pants, white shirt, and green vest that he had washed the night before. Papa insisted that he wore some sort of green, he said it brought out his eyes and hair. Cleaning what little space he knew barely took any time, and he was done by 7:15. Papa didn’t come home until noon or later, so he had some time to kill. He began to go through the list of possible activities he could do.

Painting was a no brainer. It was how he spent most of his time, his hand felt more comfortable around a paintbrush, decorating his room with hundreds of murals, ranging from clumsy expressionism to more realistic landscapes and portraits. At this point the walls might be more paint than stone and plaster. The lights always seemed to make their way into his art somehow, even if he had never painted them on their own. Speaking of which, there was a patch of blank wall he had spotted earlier, hidden behind a large set of curtains. The perfect canvas for the piece in his mind. 

Getting his paints out, he mixed together a beautiful royal blue, and covered the wall with the rich color. While he waited for that to dry, he went to his other activities. He had practically tried them all, categorizing his pursuits in journals that Papa brought him sometimes, as well as pretty much everything else in his life. His shelves bursted with his own words, stacked in chronological order, the first being written by Papa, when Izuku was too little to write himself, and could only babble what he wanted recorded. Eventually, Izuku learned to write himself and from then on he wrote down everything. He could go through his entire life book by book, which he often did, reminiscing on years past. He could find the first time he painted a mural, his first guitar song, first candle, first hand sewn vest, first chess game, first time meeting Ochako (The chameleon he had found on the windowsill one morning, who had quickly become his only friend besides Papa). So many firsts were chronicled in these pages. But there was one first that hadn’t been written yet, that he desperately wanted. But today, that might finally change! He was going to ask him today, he was going to get up the courage and ask Papa to take him to see the lights. He had been planning for months, for how Papa could keep him safe, just long enough so that he could see them in person. He wouldn’t sing, in case it accidentally activated his hair, and he would ask Papa to tie his hair up so it wouldn’t trip him up (Papa would never let Izuku do his own hair, for some reason). Maybe he could even sneak Ochako in his pocket, and she could see them too, but if Papa wouldn’t let him he would make sure to tell her all about it later. 

These thoughts bounced through his head as he finished his mural, the mural that had been in his head for years now. It was a landscape. The lights were floating up from the trees, contrasting against the royal blue sky. But in this painting, Izuku was sitting on one of the trees, gazing up at the lights that were right in front of his face, his hair flowing down past the tree leaves and down to the trunk.

“Izukuuuu!” he jumped as he heard Papa’s voice, calling him. “Let down your haiirrr!” He grinned at Ochako, who gave him an encouraging look, before concealing herself to hide in the royal blue of the painted sky.

“Coming Papa!” he called back, sprinting over to the window, which was already open to let in the summer breeze. Grabbing his hair in one solid chunk, he swung it over the hook outside the window with practiced ease. Once hooked, his hair slowly descended towards where his Papa was waiting. His hair was more than long enough to make this journey work, once it was hooked outside of his window, it dangled down the entire tower length, brushing the grass slightly. Papa carefully hooked his foot around Izuku’s hair, as Izuku slowly began to pull him up, until both Papa and his hair tumbled through the window. 

“Welcome home Papa!” He said brightly, if a little nervously. He couldn’t back out now, he needed to ask!

“Izuku, I don’t know how on Earth you do that, without ever complaining!” Papa said dramatically, his palm resting on his forehead. Izuku looked away shyly.

“Oh...it’s nothing!”

“Then I don’t know why it takes so long, dear!” he said, placing a finger on Izuku’s nose. “Oh I’m just teasing sweetie, you need to stop taking everything so seriously! Learn to take a joke!” Izuku looked away, laughing uncomfortably. 

“Ok, well, Papa, I was wondering if I could ask-”

“-Izuku, Papa is feeling quite tired, the journey here was so stressful, could you maybe sing to me dear?” Papa asked, petting Izuku’s hair absentmindedly. 

“Oh! Of course Papa!” He quickly grabbed the singing stool, placing it in front of Papa triumphantly, before quickly sitting down and placing his hair in Papa’s hands. “lendmeyourpowerlendmeyouraidlendmeyoursecretsdon’tletthemfadefixwhatisbrokenfindwhatislosthealwhatishurtingnomatterthecost!” He said all in one breath, before immediately moving on. “Ok, so tomorrow is a very important day for me, and I’m sure you already know, but it’s my birthday!” He said excitedly, squeezing Papa’s arm. Papa was still for a moment, before he quickly pushed Izuku off of him.

“Oh my, that can’t be Izuku. I remember it clearly, your birthday was last year.” Izuku blinked, unsure whether Papa was joking or not.

“Uh, well, the thing about birthdays is, they sort of happen every year?” Izuku said nervously, as Papa hummed in agreement.

“Such a smart one, Izuku, can’t pull the wool over your eyes, you’re so adorable!” Papa booped Izuku’s nose again, as Izuku blushed in embarrassment.

“Um, well, yeah, so it’s my birthday tomorrow. I’m turning 18, and I was wondering if maybe you know, you could maybe…”

“Izuku, speak up I can’t understand you when you mumble like that! Blah blah blah, I can’t understand a word you’re saying, like you’re speaking your own language!” 

“Well I was just going to ask-”

“Do you hear yourself, because I sure can’t!”

“Well I was just wondering-”

“Blah blah blah, so annoying how do you expect anyone to understand you?”

“I WANT TO SEE THE FLOATING LIGHTS!”

There was dead silence. Izuku felt his face flush as he felt the urge to cover his mouth with his hands. The summer breeze outside whistled, as he stared at Papa’s face, which was frozen in shock. He decided to backtrack.

“W-well I was hoping you could take me to see the floating lights?” He said tentatively. Papa raised an eyebrow, before his features softened and he spoke.

“Oh, you mean the stars dear.” 

“Well, here’s the thing, I’ve charted stars, and they’re always constant, there every single night. But these-” he pulled back the curtain, revealing the painting of the lights. Papa’s eyes flashed with an emotion Izuku couldn’t quite place. “They appear every year on my birthday, and only on my birthday Papa! I know that it’s probably just coincidence, but I can’t help but feel like they’re meant for me, I just… I need to see them, and not just from my window like always! I need to see them in person! Just…” he looked away nervously. “...I need to know what they are Papa.”

“Izuku, it’s dangerous-”

“-I know it’s dangerous, that’s why I’ve been planning! We’ll go somewhere remote, where no one will try and steal my hair, and I won’t sing, that way there isn’t any chance of the healing powers activating-”

“-Izuku-”

“-And you could put my hair up so that I would be able to get around easily without anyone stepping on my hair, and then-”

“IZUKU!” Izuku lets out a quiet “meep” as he realized he was muttering again. 

“I-I’m sorry Papa, I just wanted to show you-”

“-I know dear, but trust me, you aren’t ready to leave this tower.”

“But, I think I am, I’ve been preparing-”

“Dear, books are one thing, but the outside world is so much more dangerous than you can imagine!” 

“That’s why you come with me, so that I’ll be protected!”

“Flower, please, listen to me.” Papa grabbed Izuku’s face and turned it towards him. “You’re not ready to handle yourself out there, you’ll get eaten alive. You need to stay here, where you’re safe. Do you understand, Izuku?” Izuku sighed.

“...Yes Papa…” Papa smiled at him.

“Now, I’m going to go out for a little bit, will you be alright on your own?”

“I’ll be here…” Papa kissed the top of his head affectionately.

“I love you very much dear.” He said, as he hooked his foot in Izuku’s hair.

“I love you more.” Izuku said, as he began hoisting him back down to the grass.

“I love you most!” Papa called up from the ground, as he turned to leave through the woods. Izuku sighed.

“...When will my life begin?”


	3. Another Lost

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shouto appears! Sorry I feel like I kind of rushed this chapter.... I just really want them to meet! Also, I hope Shouto doesn't feel to OOC. He's a bit more sassy in this AU, due to leaving Endeav*r earlier, and having to survive on his own. Anyways, I hope you enjoy!
> 
> EDIT 7/6/2019: If you're rereading the edits I made, the only real thing you need to take away from the new version of this chapter is that Shouto is actually going by a fake name now! (Hajime).

Shouto Todoroki (well, he was actually going by “Hajime” now. He had given up his real name long ago) was having a very interesting day. It had started with him being rudely woken up. He had been having a nice dream, something about a flower, when suddenly he was being shaken awake quite forcefully. 

“Hey, get up you lazy butt!” He vaguely recognized the voice, but burrowed deeper into his pillow. Well, his flour bag. Years on the streets had given him the ability to fall asleep nearly anywhere, after all. Slowly blinking the sleep from his eyes, the world came back into view. He was in an alley, and yes, that was indeed a bag of flour under his head. And right in front of him were Shinsou and Monoma, the two fellow thieves he had been slowly getting to know and helping with jobs for the past few weeks. Monoma rolled his eyes.

“Did you have a nice nap, pretty boy?” He smirked. Shouto gave him a blank stare in response.

“Fuck off.” 

“My, such language! What would your parents say?” Shouto was silent, but his brow furrowed slightly. Neither man knew anything about his familial situation, but remarks like that still stung somewhere deep inside of him. He shook his head and forced his face back into a neutral expression.

“...Mind telling me why you woke me up at what seems like the crack of dawn?” This time it was Shinsou’s turn to roll his eyes.

“Did you forget yesterday Hajime? The plan?” Oh right. The plan. While the somewhat chaotic trio had been mostly snatching purses and loaves of bread, the other two had the brilliant idea to steal the lost Prince’s crown. Because this kingdom also seemed to have a lost prince. Shouto didn’t exactly want to take the prince’s crown, but he would be damned if he couldn’t pull it off and make enough money to pay that one bartender who said he might have information on another man with burn scars, which is the closest he’s gotten to info on Touya in years. So he said yes to the plan. Which he was starting to regret, considering they decided to put it into action when the sun first rose. 

“Right. The plan. How could I forget?” He deadpanned. Monoma scoffed, as Shinsou held out an arm to hold the blonde back. Shouto slung his bag over his shoulder and began following the other two men. 

Traversing the twists and turns of the back alleys and streets, the trio soon made their way to the town square, with the castle standing tall in front of them. The other two began to move forward, but something caught Shouto’s eye.

A missing poster. They still popped up sometimes, though he honestly hadn’t expected one to be here, considering his father’s hatred of the kingdom. But nevertheless, there it was, waving in the wind, stuck onto the window of a shop. He almost had to laugh at how little it looked like him. For one, the scar that dominated half of his face was nowhere to be found on this illustration. The drawing’s hair was split down the middle, half red and half white, his natural hair color. He fiddled with the artificially dark strands on his head, the result of black tea and some henna powder he had been lucky enough to nab from an unsuspecting merchant. Without making any moves to draw attention to himself, he quickly grabbed the poster, stuffing it into his bag, next to a few missing posters like it, as well as a few wanted posters of an unnamed thief with a large facial scar. It was a habit he had gotten into a long time ago, just to keep them from as many eyes as possible. Monoma glared at him as he lagged behind.

“Hey, scarface! You coming?” He hissed. Shouto rolled his eyes and continued forward. 

The group quietly made their way to a building next to the castle, climbing up it stealthily before they hopped onto the side of the castle. Quickly maneuvering their way up to the top of the palace, until they were right above the grand throne room where the crown was kept. Taking off his bag for easy access, Shouto tied a length of rope around his waist, handing the end to Shinsou to keep steady. Slowly, carefully, he lowered himself down through the latch entrance in the ceiling, not even daring to breath, as Shinsou then steadily lowered him more through the rope. Finally, he was able to reach the crown. He stared at it for a moment, as it glittered in the sun that streamed through their entry point, before he quickly snatched it up. He felt the tug of the rope as Shinsou began to pull him back up, when suddenly, the guard in front of him sneezed. And Shouto, being the idiot that he was, just couldn’t hold back from saying,

“Hay fever?” He could practically hear the other two slapping their foreheads, as the guard turned around to thank him, before realizing what exactly was happening. But by then, he had already been pulled up and the trio were running for their lives.

“Seriously? You couldn’t keep your mouth shut for two seconds? You’re going to get us killed!” Monoma shouted over the sound of rushing wind as they sprinted from the kingdom into the woods. Shouto scoffed.

“Like you’re any better right now, shouting as loud as you can for the whole world to hear us!”

“We were so close! All you had to do was not talk for five fucking seconds! You absolute-”

“Oh my god can you both shut up?” Shinsou chimed in, and Shouto was more than happy to oblige. The sound of horses made Shouto turn his head, and, sure enough, what seemed like the entire palace guard was now after them. Goddammit. Picking up the pace, he quickly turned a sharp corner and Monoma and Shinsou followed suit. 

They seemed to have the palace guard off their tail for now, but they continued to dodge and turn to make sure they truly lost them, until eventually they came to a small cliff. Shouto turned to the other two.

“Alright. You guys give me a boost, and then I’ll pull you up.” Shinsou and Monoma eyed him, and then his bag.

“Give us the bag first.” Monoma said. Shouto raised an eyebrow. 

“Wow. I can’t believe that after all we’ve been through, everything we’ve done, you still don’t trust me?” The two just continued to stare. “...Alright then.” he said, handing the bag over to Monoma, who nodded, and began to help lift him up, with Shinsou’s help. Hoisting himself up the rest of the way once he got his footing, Monoma called up at him.

“Alright, now help us up pretty boy!” Shouto grinned.

“Sorry boys,” he said, as he held up the bag he had slipped away from Monoma on the way up. “My hands are full.” And with that, he took off running as fast as he could. Looks like he just made two more enemies. Whoops.

He began to hear horses again, as well as shouts of “retrieve that satchel at all costs!” and sped up as much as he could. Glancing behind him, he saw an entire pack of castle guards, who seemed to be being led by the redheaded man in the front, as well as his blonde horse, who seemed to be giving his own commands to the other horses. 

Shouto quickly maneuvered the terrain, turning sharp corners and sliding underneath logs in his path, as he desperately clung to his satchel. Hopping through two trunks of a tree that made a narrow opening, he thought he might have finally lost them, but the sound of a horse made him grumble in frustration. It was the redhead with his blonde horse, who was looking quite triumphant and yelling, “We got him now, Katsuki!” 

Shit. 

In a split second decision, he leaps into the air, flying behind him and somehow made his way onto the back of the horse, knocking off the redhead in the process. But as soon as he did, the horse stopped dead in its tracks. Shouto rolled his eyes. 

“Come on, move it.” he said through gritted teeth. But instead of moving, the horse just turned back to glare at him. “Come on!” he said, getting frustrated. The horse locked eyes with his satchel, and began to bite at it, as if trying to grab it. “No! Don’t-” He tried to move the satchel away from the creature’s reach, which only made the horse turn around in circles, until they were both going around in circles, and eventually, he accidentally flung the satchel out of his grip where it landed neatly on the end of a branch….on the edge of a cliff.

He stared at the horse for a moment, before the both of them launched forward to grab the satchel, tripping one another, until they were both on the branch. He grabbed the satchel victoriously, grinning smugly at the horse, when he realized a faint cracking sound. Before he could fully process that, the branch they were supported on snapped off of the cliff, and the pair went tumbling down into the abyss below. 

Goddamn, his head hurt. Slowly blinking open his eyes, he realized that he seemed to have finally gotten that damn fleabag off his trail. But...where exactly was he? He still didn’t feel safe staying around, as he swore he heard faint neighing in the distance. He slowly started to get up, as he tried to brace himself using a vine wall, that quickly turned out to not be a wall, but be a passageway considering the fact that he fell right through it. Well, that might be a good escape route from insane horse. 

Slowly walking through the vine passageway, he came across a sight he definitely wasn’t expecting. A tower. A lone tower in the middle of a clearing. There seemed to be no doors, only a window at the top. Well, wasn’t this just a perfect hiding spot? He guessed the universe owed him one. He luckily had some arrows that he could use to climb the damn thing, as whoever built it apparently never wanted anyone to get in or out. After a long strenuous climb, he tumbled into what looked like a bedroom, covered in paintings. He sighed, opening his satchel to peek at his prize.

“Alone at last…” 

And then everything went black.


	4. A Person in His Closet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I said the phrase "person in my closet" or "person in his closet" so many times in this chapter, i couldn't not make it the chapter title. Shouto is unconscious, and Izuku has to decide what to do.

He didn’t plan to hit a man with a frying pan today. But life doesn’t always go the way you expect, now does it? 

He had just finished making pancakes. He heard some rustling behind him, and on pure instinct he had turned on his heel and swung the frying pan that was still in his hands. And now there was a strange man lying face down in his room. 

He slowly tip toed over to the unconscious man. Turning the frying pan around, he gently reached out the handle to the man’s face, and moved the black hair away from his face. He was...beautiful. There was a scar that took up most of what Izuku could see of his face, but if anything, it just added to the man’s beauty. He began to feel his cheeks heating up, the way they did when Papa would tease him too much. But he didn’t feel bad, the way he felt when Papa teased. In fact, he felt something strange stir inside of his chest. Strange, but not bad. 

He looked over to Ochako for guidance. The chameleon gave the stranger a withering look, then put her front feet in front of her mouth, imitating teeth. The message was clear, Papa had always said that there were men with pointy teeth who would devour him whole. But when he prodded the stranger’s mouth open, the teeth were square, just like Izuku’s. He frowned in confusion. Suddenly, the stranger’s eyes began to flutter open, as he began to mutter sleepily. Quickly, Izuku whacked the frying pan against the man’s head again, and with an audible thwunk, he was asleep again. 

Getting him into the closet was a struggle. The man was much heavier than Izuku, and taller too, so when he tried to lift him up, he just fell over, leaving the two of them in a pile on the ground. He tried a running start, and that had almost worked, until he had closed the door and realized a large chunk of his hair was stuck inside with the stranger. Finally, after many attempts, Izuku just ended up pushing the man as hard as he could, closing the doors quickly behind him, and propping a chair up against the handles so there was no chance the man could accidentally fall out again. Once he was done he backed away from the closet slowly.

“Okay. There is a person in my closet. There is a person in my closet.” He muttered to himself. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror, and couldn’t help but break into a smile. “There’s a person in my closet!” He exclaimed again, joyfully. He giggled, as he picked up the frying pan and began swinging it around casually. “Not ready to handle myself out there, Papa? Well my frying would like to speak with you!” He said excitedly, before promptly hitting himself on the forehead with his reckless swinging frying pan. He winced in pain, rubbing his forehead, when suddenly he caught a glimpse of the leather satchel that the man had dropped. 

Curiously, he picked up the bag and opened it to reveal the contents. Inside there were dozens of different papers, when he picked one up there was an illustration of another stranger, with red and white hair split down the middle. Underneath of the illustration were the words “Shouto Todoroki”. He frowned, putting the paper back into the bag, digging further. At the bottom of the bag was something large, seemingly made of metal. He dug it out, and nearly gasped. It was a beautiful metal circle, adorned with various jewels and embellishments. It was gorgeous. He turned it around, and watched as the jewels caught the light and shimmered every which way. But what did it do? He furrowed his brows. It looked like some sort of accessory, like the shiny bracelets that Papa sometimes wore. He put it around his wrist, looking over to Ochako for her opinion. She shook her head, and he nodded. It was far to big to stay on his wrist, maybe it was for his feet? He put the circle around his foot, and raised an eyebrow to Ochako. She shook her head again. She was right, that didn’t make sense, how would you walk? Maybe….maybe it was a head accessory! He put it on the top of his head, gazing in the mirror. His eyes widened, a flash of a memory he couldn’t quite place placed in his head. What was that from? He turned to Ochako, who’s eyes also widened for a moment, before she quickly shook her head again. Was that not right? Before he had time to dwell on that, a voice called out to him from the bottom of the tower.

“Izuku! Let down your hair!”

“Coming, Papa!” he called out, quickly stuffing the beautiful metal circle back into the bag, and then putting the bag in a nearby pot, putting the lid on top to prevent his secret from being revealed. Wait. He stopped dead in his tracks. There was a person in his closet. What was he going to do, what was he going to tell Papa? But then, an idea formed in his mind. This...this could be proof that he could handle himself out there! How could Papa refuse when there was a person he had defended himself against right in his closet? 

“Izuku! Don’t take all day! I’ve got a surprise for you!” Izuku snapped out of his head, as he began to hook his hair to let down to Papa. 

“I-uh have a surprise too!” he called out, as he felt the familiar tug of Papa stepping onto the loop of hair at the bottom of tower.

“Oh, I bet my surprise is bigger!” 

“I seriously doubt it…” he couldn’t help but mutter. Papa made his way up to the top of the tower, and held up his basket, which was full of various vegetables. 

“Surprise! I’m making stew!” Izuku smiled at him quietly, before he cleared his throat and began speaking.

“So Papa, I was wondering if we could talk about-”

“Oh Izuku dear, you know I hate to leave you after a fight, especially when I’ve done nothing wrong.”

“Uh, well I was thinking we could talk about this morning actually-” he laughed nervously, as he began making his way over to the closet, chair still propped up against it.

“I really thought we dropped the issue, flower.”

“Well, I just….” he paused. “You think I wouldn’t be able to handle myself out there.” Papa looked up from the vegetables, giving him a pointed look.

“Oh I know you wouldn’t be able to handle yourself out there, dear.” 

“But you see-” he began to ghost his hand over the chair.

“Izuku, drop it.”

“If you would just-”

“Izuku!”

“-listen-”

“ENOUGH!” Papa’s voice roared throughout the room. “YOU ARE NOT LEAVING THIS TOWER! EVER!” Izuku blinked in shock, as he felt tears threaten to spill from his eyes, his hand still hovering over the chair. There was a beat of silence, before Papa slumped down into a nearby chair, his hand on his face. “Great.” he said. “Now I’m the bad guy.” Izuku’s hand slowly drew away from the chair, as he wrapped his arms around himself. He looked down.

“....All I was going to say Papa, was that….” he sighed. “...I know what I want for my birthday now….” Papa looked up at him.

“And what is that, Izuku?” 

“....A new journal? Another journal like the one you brought me last spring, with the blue cover?” Papa sighed.

“Well, that is a very long trip Izuku. Nearly 2 weeks just to get to the shop where they’re made and back.” Izuku looked down again.

“I just thought….it would be a better idea than….the stars….” Papa sighed, before he got up, and made his way over to Izuku.

“Will you be alright on your own?” Izuku nodded. Papa sighed again. “I suppose...I could make the trip….” He smiled at Izuku softly. “I’ll see you in two weeks, my flower.” He said, as he began packing his things, and Izuku hooked his hair back at the window, and slowly lowered Papa back to the ground. 

“I’ll be here.” he said softly, as he watched Papa walk towards the brush that kept the tower hidden from prying eyes. But as soon as Papa was out of eyesight, he quickly rushed back into the tower. There was still a person in his closet, after all.


	5. A Hairy Situation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> They finally meet! And...I had to do that title.... I HAD to.

He was awoken by something wet and slimy in his ear. He instantly jumped, trying to lift his arms, only to find that they had been tied down. His eyes snapped open, as he tried to look around to see his surroundings. He was in a chair, and had been tied down to it….with hair? That was hair, wasn’t it? Looking around at his surroundings wasn’t much help, it was a room, shrouded in shadow, that was covered in paintings, and even more hair. He continued to try and break free of the restraints, as he caught a glimpse of a shadowy figure, who instantly squeaked when his eyes landed on them.

“St-struggling won’t do anything!” the figure spoke, voice shaking. He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. His head was really starting to hurt, like he had smacked it against a wall. What had happened? He squinted, trying to get a better look at whoever was there. The figure jumped down from the beam they had been standing on, and continued. “I.. I know why you’re here! And… I’m not afraid of you!” 

“....what?” he couldn’t help but ask out loud, unable to make any sense of the situation. The figure sighed shakily, and slowly walked out into the light, and Shouto’s mouth dropped open.

It was a boy, around his age if not a bit younger. He was short, with freckles splattered across his face, and piercing green eyes that seemed to be boring into his soul. He held a frying pan up as a weapon, his expression trying to be threatening, but Shouto could see the terror underneath of it. But what really caught his attention was the hair. Bright green curls seemed to explode from the boy’s head, easily giving him another head of height, and tumbled down his back. He had never seen hair so wild before, as he looked down at his restraints, realizing the hair was the same. Just how long was this guy’s hair? The strangers eyes narrowed.

“...Who are you? And how did you find me?” Shouto’s jaw continued to hang down, as he couldn’t begin to find any words to say. The boy seemed to take that as an unwillingness to speak, as he held up his frying pan higher as a threat, and repeated. “Who are you, and how did you find me?” his voice becoming more firm. Shouto blinked, clearing his throat. 

“I...” he said slowly. “....have no idea who you are.” he finished. The boy glared at him. 

“And who are you exactly?” he asked. Shouto sighed.

“People call me Hajime.”

“Who else knows my location, Hajime?” the stranger said, saying his name as if he didn’t believe it was his real one. Which, well, it wasn’t really.

“Ok. Listen freckles-”

“Izuku.”

“-Whatever. Here’s the deal. I was in a situation, running around the forest, I came across your tower and….” he trailed off, as he realized something very important was not around his torso. “...oh no, wait a minute, where is my satchel?” he asked as he began frantically looking around. That was his key to Touya in there. The boy crossed his arms smugly.

“I’ve hidden it! You’ll never find it!” he said confidently. He glanced around. 

“....it’s in that pot, isn’t it?”

THWUNK.

He was awoken again by something wet and slimy in his ear, but this time he got a good look at what it was, which was a lizard of some kind.

“Why are you doing that?” he asked, as he shook his shoulder, causing the lizard to fall off. The boy gave him a disapproving look, as he walked over to pick up the lizard and put it on his shoulder.

“Now, I’ve hidden it where you’ll never find it.” he said smugly, as he began to walk around the chair Shouto was tied to. “So,” he began. “What do you want with my hair? To cut it?” 

“...What?!?”

“Sell it?” he asked, as he pointed the frying pan at Shouto.

“No!” he said incredulously. “The only thing I want to do with your hair is to get out of it.” he said. He looked down at the restraints “Quite literally get out of it.” he added on. The boy paused.

“You...you don’t want my hair?” Shouto sighed.

“Why the hell would I want your hair?” he asked, confused. He closed his eyes in frustration. “I was being chased, I saw a tower, I climbed it. That’s it.” the boy eyed him cautiously.

“...You’re telling the truth?”

“Yes.” The boy looked like he was thinking. Suddenly, the lizard that was on his shoulder crawled down his arm onto the frying pan, and seemed to stare Shouto down. Shouto blinked, eyes widening. The lizard looked back at the boy, and pointed its tail. The boy nodded, scooping the lizard up and turning away from Shouto, who was frozen in confusion. He began to whisper to the lizard, seemingly discussing something.

“...need someone to take me….” What?

“.....doesn’t have fangs….” What?!? He was just about to start trying to break free of his restraints again when the boy turned and spoke.

“Alright, Hajime.” he said, placing the lizard back on his shoulder. “I’m prepared to make a deal with you.”

“Deal?” 

“Look this way.” the boy said, tugging on the hair that was between his head and the restraints, turning the chair around, but also causing it to fall and have Shouto land flat on his face in the process. As if his head didn’t hurt enough already. The boy hopped up onto a ledge, pulling back a curtain to reveal a painting of glowing lights. “Do you know what these are?” He gave a deadpan look.

“...you mean the lantern thing they do for the prince every year?” Shouto had only seen it once before, but it was obvious that was what it was supposed to be. The king and queen of this kingdom would light up thousands of lanterns for the lost prince’s birthday. He couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy at the concept. His father still put up missing posters for him, but that was only because he was his “legacy”. He hadn’t seen a missing poster for Touya in years. And he couldn’t imagine a whole lantern ceremony to bring him back. The boy’s eyes widened.

“Lanterns...I knew they weren’t stars!” he said softly to himself, before he cleared his throat. “Well, tomorrow night, they will light the night sky with these lanterns. You,” he said, pointing his frying pan to Shouto. “Will act as my guide, take me to the lanterns and return me home safely. Then, and only then, will I give you back your satchel. That is my deal. Take it or leave it.” Shouto sighed.

“Yeah, that’s not going to happen.” he said, as used his arms to hop himself onto his side. “Unfortunately, me and the kingdom aren’t exactly on good terms at the moment, so I won’t be taking you anywhere.” the boy looked over to the lizard, who seemed to make a punching motion with its fist. The boy’s eyes narrowed, as he hopped down from the ledge, and began to pull at his hair, slowly bringing the chair and Shouto back to an upright position.

“Something brought you here, Hajime. Call it what you will, fate, destiny-”

“An asshole horse.”

“-but I have made the decision to trust you.”

“And I don’t know why you made that decision.”

“But trust me when I say this.” the boy gave one final tug, pulling the chair too far forward, but he caught it before it could fall, his face inches from Shouto’s as he glared at him. “You can tear this tower apart, search it from top to bottom. But without my help, you will never find your precious satchel.” he said threateningly. 

“...Alright. Let me see if I’ve got this. I take you to see the lanterns, bring you back home, and you’ll give me my satchel back?” The boy nodded.

“I promise.” Shouto gave him a withering look. “And when I promise something, I never break that promise.” he raised an eyebrow. “Ever.” he rolled his eyes.

“Alright, listen, I didn’t want to have to do this, but you leave me no choice. Here comes the look.” He softened his features into a princely smirk, the kind he knew made the hearts of men and women alike melt. It was annoying, but at least it was useful sometimes. Mainly he used it when he was acting as the distraction in thievery. But the boy continued to glare at him, unfazed. He sighed. 

“Fine, I’ll take you to see the lanterns!” the boy squealed. 

“Really? You will?” he asked, letting go of the chair to put his hands to his chest in excitement. Which in turn caused Shouto to fall flat on his face again. “Whoops.” This was going to be a long day, wasn’t it?


End file.
